Reference no: EM133434357

Case Study: Valuing the Role of Conflict in Organization Enrichment Dale Nienow and Jeremy Stringer Higher education institutions, as with any communities, experience conflict. In addition to interpersonal disputes, cultural conflict may occur among groups with varying religious, political, racial, and cultural traditions, perspectives, and lifestyles. Universities reflect the tensions that exist in society at large. There are people of diverse backgrounds, multiple perspectives on nearly every issue, and willing and engaged participants at varying developmental levels. Student affairs administrators at all stages of their careers need to understand and navigate through the many nuances of conflict. Sometimes student affairs administrators or their supervisors just want a conflict to go away. However, administrators who attempt to make this happen forcefully, such as by exercising positional power, may make the situation worse. Administrators at all levels need to develop the capacity to grow in their ability to respond to conflict in ways that will strengthen their organizations.Suppose, for example, that a group of students is concerned about tuition increases and makes the decision to disrupt a meeting of the board of trustees on campus. Although the campus has clear procedures covering student protest, stipulating when, where, and how protests may be conducted, the students choose to ignore them because following the procedures would not allow them to protest in the manner they feel is best suited to communicating their strong concern about the cost of their education. How should administrators respond? Legally, they could call the police and have the students removed. But should they? This is a powerful teaching moment for the institution. But what is it the institution wants to teach, and what is the best way to teach it?Because conflict in higher education is inevitable, student affairs professionals must understand themselves and their dispositions regarding conflict as well as how others typically choose to deal with it. They must also have an understanding of the value of positively dealing with conflict in order to develop and maintain healthy organizations. This chapter discusses varying approaches to conflict. It begins by discussing how administrators can prepare themselves to deal with conflict and reviews various types of conflict interventions. It then turns to a discussion of gracious space as a process for developing a healthy organization, and follows by reviewing processes that might utilize the opportunities presented by conflict to develop healthier individuals and organizations. In summary, we suggest a different perspective on conflict, one that allows individuals to interact with others with respect and appreciate the gifts offered by different perspectives. At the end of the chapter there is a short list of resources that may prove helpful to administrators preparing to face conflict.Preparing to Deal with Conflict Every individual has a predisposition to deal with conflict in accustomed ways. A first step in preparing to deal with conflict as a student affairs administrator is understanding one's own natural inclinations. Kenneth Thomas (1992) discusses various approaches to conflict, based on behavior across two dimensions: assertiveness and cooperativeness. Considering these two spheres together, Thomas (1992) defines five basic methods individuals use to deal with conflict. The five methods are competing, accommodating, avoiding, collaborating, and compromising.

Questions:

• As you reflect on this reading, which specific topic or issue resonates the most with you? Why?
• What big question relating to partnerships between academic affairs and student affairs remains unanswered?
• What did you gain from reading these articles?